1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to program guides used by apparatuses such as television signal receivers, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for providing a program guide that includes information indicating channel signal strength.
2. Background Information
A program guide is an on-screen display feature that displays information analogous to program listings found in local newspapers or other print media. The information contained in a program guide may include programming characteristics such as channel number, program title, start time, end time, and a brief description of a program's content. Program guides may for example be arranged in a two-dimensional grid format with time information on one (e.g., horizontal) axis and channel information on the other (e.g., vertical) axis. Program guides may also be interactive in that they allow users to make channel selections directly from the program guide itself.
With current program guides, a user making a channel selection from the program guide does so without any information pertaining to the possibility of actually receiving that channel. If the channel does not appear following selection, the user may not know why. With a satellite receiver system, for example, a user seeking signal strength information must access a dedicated menu that provides the signal strength of all channels at one time. With this approach, information concerning the strength of a particular channel is not available to the user at the time s the channel is selected,
With an analog terrestrial broadcast system, inadequate channel signal strength may not pose a serious concern for users. For example, if a channel is not properly received after it is selected, the user may assume that the selected channel does not possess sufficient signal strength and simply select another channel. However, with digital broadcast systems, channel signal strength does become an important concern because the signal of a selected channel will be either off or on, depending on whether the strength of the received channel exceeds a threshold.
Accordingly, there is a need for an apparatus and method that addresses the foregoing problem, and thereby provides users with information pertaining to the possibility of actually receiving a channel at the time of channel selection. The present invention addresses these and/or other issues.